


Caffrey vs Carmichael Industries

by Quinis



Category: Chuck (TV), White Collar
Genre: Bryce and Neal are Twins, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-08-11 08:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7884361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinis/pseuds/Quinis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The FBI has once again messed with Neal's chance at freedom. What they didn't know was that Neal had other offers. Among which was Bryce's offer to work with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I probably shouldn't post this but it's getting long enough to be multi-chaptered, even though I was hoping for a one shot. *sighs* Hopefully I can finish it in two chapters. this was a request from huskielover94 and it was just interesting enough that I felt like doing it.
> 
> "you should do a story where the FBI turns down Neal's deal and chuck takes it like he says he will in Computers vs Paintings (Chapter 24) or one where Bryce asks him to work for him at one of the rough patches and he says yes. should include peters reaction to both at some point like they meet again" -huskielover94
> 
> There's now a translation of this fic into Russian by MissKateCat at <https://ficbook.net/readfic/4765369>

**Caffrey vs Carmichael Industries**

* * *

Neal stared at the shimmering water. His heart was heavy. Just a day before, he had been in this same spot, talking to Mozzie about his plans to travel. They had the diamond and another big win for the FBI White Collar division.

Neal thought his anklet was going to come off. That he would be a free man. He had Peter behind him and nothing could go wrong.

But, something had. The FBI didn't want to lose him; he was too great an asset. But, if he hadn't been a great asset, he would have been sent back to prison. It was a rigged game and he felt like a fool for not seeing it before.

Running was back to being his best option.

He sighed and turned around. Sitting on the bench was a guy wearing very noticeable footwear.

"Why are you following me? Who are you?"

"I'm about to become the last person on earth who knows where you are."

Everything went dark and tight as a bag was tossed over his head. Neal was jostled and shoved towards the car park, heart thudding in his chest.

Peter was going to think he ran. Mozzie was off making the arrangements now. Would they realise he was taken?

Whatever these people wanted with him, it couldn't be good. Not if they were kidnapping him.

"Hey!" he grumbled as an elbow jabbed him in the side. Then, nothing.

There were a couple of grunts and the bag was pulled off his head. Neal blinked, faced with his exact smile.

"Hi, Neal," Bryce greeted. Despite being grateful to his younger twin for helping him, Neal was instantly sceptical. That con-smile never meant anything good. "Want to come work with me?"

"With you?" Neal echoed. Bryce had made the offer before, notably once while Neal was in prison.

"I work independent now," Bryce informed him. "At Carmichael Industries. We get most of our jobs from Beckman though," he shrugged. "It's a living."

"You know I'm stuck in New York, right?"

"With the FBI," Bryce said with a nod. "However, they've screwed you over, bro. You were supposed to go free. But, someone decided you're useful and so you're stuck." Bryce's grin faded a little as he got a little more serious. "Chuck's good at getting people out of situations like that. As long as you want out."

Neal knew what his answer would be. However, that didn't mean he was going to make his brother work for it. "Will I get to travel?"

"Around the world, if you wanted."

"Paris?"

"I guess. Why is it always Paris with you?"

"What's the catch?"

Bryce hesitated. Neal's eyes widened as he realised there might be a catch.

"Most Carmichael Industries' employees work two jobs. The spy side and the... Buy More side."

"Buy More?" Neal gasped in shock. Maybe the green shirts or the nerd herd fit Bryce but Neal didn't think he wanted that.

"Give it a go, Neal. At the very least, Chuck won't stop you from travelling the world if you wanted. I don't think Chuck would force you into a job you hate. He'd probably help you find something else. As long as it's not criminal."

As Neal watched Bryce, he began to smile too. It had been a long time since he saw his brother relaxed. Even their last meeting, Bryce had been tense, going through the motions as he tried to get Neal to work with him. 'You'll be a great agent,' he had said. 'We could work together.' That was tempting but, Neal didn't like the CIA's effect on his nerdy brother.

This was a little more like the Bryce he remembered. This could be fun.

"Okay. I'll give it a go."

Bryce stared in shock, like he hadn't expected Neal to say yes.

* * *

The twins cut the anklet and were on a flight to Burbank, California within the hour. Neal watched New York fade away with slight sadness. Mozzie might be upset that he left without him but, the little guy would understand.

Peter would be fine. Peter was going to DC. Maybe Neal would visit, some day far into the future.

* * *

Neal had run.

Peter had expected it. Mozzie insisted that Neal hadn't been planning to leave yet but, considering he vanished a week later, Peter suspected Neal had found a way to escalate his plans.

It didn't matter. Peter was staying in New York. He didn't think he could make decisions about people's lives without being a part of those lives.

A month after Neal left, orders arrived from the top. Close Neal Caffrey's file, Peter was ordered. There had been no sign of him, no thefts of interest and they had no resources to waste searching for a lost CI.

It was strange but Peter was glad he wouldn't have to put Neal back in prison forever if he found him.

* * *

Neal had spent a month, hiding out in Castle while the heat went down. Arriving in Burbank had been a quiet affair. Bryce had pulled him off the plane and into a white and red Nerd Herd vehicle driven by a friendly, dark haired man.

The famous, or infamous in Neal's opinion, Chuck introduced himself instantly.

"Hi, I'm Chuck."

Neal hadn't liked Chuck at first. He knew that Chuck had been Bryce's only friend. He also knew that Bryce had betrayed Chuck to protect him.

Neal thought Chuck should have been able to see through Bryce's actions. See that Bryce had been trying to protect him.

But, Chuck proved he was an alright guy. He made sure Neal was comfortable and even promised a Paris mission should Neal make it through the month.

Meeting Chuck's team had been interesting as well. Neal got to know them all since he was stuck in their base.

Sarah was nice enough. She reminded him of Diana a little. Tough but she cared. She brought him treats from the 'surface' as Neal began to call it.

Casey was difficult to read for someone who was supposed to be a typical gun-loving Fed. He tended to leave Neal alone. Although he bothered Bryce every now and then with reminders of when he had shot him.

Neal didn't like that and if some of Casey's guns were shifted around just enough that he would notice, making him paranoid, then it was retribution for shooting first and asking questions second.

Morgan was pretty cool. He reminded Neal a little of Mozzie and a little of June, funnily enough. He lived vicariously through Neal, enjoying stories of Neal's exploits. Neal even managed to talk him through a Buy More heist when he needed to break in without being noticed to get something from Big Mike's office before it exploded (long story).

Bryce was the odd one out of the group. At the beginning of Neal's time there, Bryce felt like an intangible presence. While it was no one's fault, Bryce faded into the background, escaping for missions and generally not being present.

* * *

It was one week into Neal's stay when he decided to fix that. It was around the time Chuck managed to worm his way into Neal's 'okay' list.

Bryce returned after a mission, just dropping off some information to Chuck and stocking up on supplies. Neal had been waiting for him. He cornered his brother in the main room with a chess set.

"It's been a while," Neal explained with what he hoped looked like a hopeful grin.

Bryce stared for a few moments before sighing and sitting down.

They were partway through a game when Chuck came in.

"Ooh, chess. Can I play next?"

"You can play Bryce next," Neal decided as it would keep Bryce around longer.

"You've got to be kidding," Bryce grumbled.

Chuck gave Bryce a sad look. It made the twins think about the look a kicked puppy might have. "You don't want to play against me?"

Three games later and Chuck had a mission. It was as he was handing out everyone's jobs for the mission that Neal realised something.

"Who's staying in the van?" he asked.

"Generally no one stays in the van anymore," Chuck shrugged.

"Morgan," Sarah said at the same time. But, for this mission, Morgan was going undercover at the bar.

That wouldn't do. "The person in the van is both the techie and backup. They need to be able to handle the most dangerous situations since their job is mostly extraction and hacking." Neal couldn't hack and wasn't allowed to leave Castle and they all knew it. There was only one person in the room who could be trusted to extract them and who had hacking skills above the normal CIA level.

Bryce seemed baffled that everyone turned to him. He didn't have Chuck's level of hacking skill but, there weren't many people on Chuck's level. And he did find it to be an interesting puzzle.

"If you don't mind-" he started to say to Chuck.

"You'll do it?" Chuck asked happily. He was team leader and couldn't spend all his time sitting at the computer, fending off attacks and gathering info. He had to see the big picture, not just the digital picture.

That's how Bryce found himself conned into Carmichael Industries full time.

* * *

When the four weeks were up, Bryce and Neal found themselves in Buy More white and green respectively. Bryce still didn't know how Chuck got him into this uniform.

"I thought Neal was the one who needed a cover job," he commented, tugging at the buttons on his white Nerd Herd shirt.

Neal was grinning at him. This almost made the green shirt he was wearing tolerable.

Almost.

Neal already knew that he was good at sales. Selling and conning were similar arts. But, sales was boring. The same thing day in and day out.

The Buy More would be the same. Or so he thought, until he came in to see Skip and Lester standing on a ladder, dropping cheeseballs on customers.

Or the day he walked in to find Jeff in an overcoat, apparently wearing nothing underneath after Lester stole his clothes, leaving him to borrow a coat or miss work. And the 'new Jeff' who no longer had monoxide poisoning and brain damage from sleeping in his running van took work very seriously. Neal just wondered if he really had recovered like everyone seemed to think.

Then there was the time where the staff ended up split into green and white shirts, pranking each other non stop for a week until Chuck called it. Neal... may have started that one. Or Bryce did. He couldn't quite remember before the glitter incident but vengeance had to be served.

The Buy More was like nowhere else and Neal found he quite enjoyed his time there. Between missions of course. First up was a mission to Paris which Neal enjoyed, specially since he got to stay a few days after his ticket home was mysteriously 'misplaced'.

Something was always happening and, except for that 'Black Friday incident' that no one was allowed to speak about (really, guys? Neal thought Mozzie would have loved it), six months passed before Neal realised it.

"Interpol is moving on the Pink Panthers," Beckman informed them one morning.

Neal was ecstatic. The Pink Panthers were amazing criminals, although Neal didn't like how people were sometimes hurt in their heists, and he would enjoy the challenge of bringing them down.

"The FBI is watching them," Sarah pointed out, having flipped through the dossier.

Bryce had done so as well and was frowning at Beckman. "This is a foolish plan." Everyone stared at him. He kept staring at the screen. "You can't possibly believe we'll be able to get Neal undercover with them. And, even if we do manage it, the case is in New York!"

"Neal has somewhere where you can stay and I believe he can pull this off," Beckman pointed out. She looked to Chuck. The unsaid, 'you've done the impossible before' hung in the air.

Chuck nodded. "We'll do it."

"This is a bad idea," Bryce muttered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Caffrey vs Carmichael Industries - Part 2**

* * *

"My name is Neal Caffrey and I want to join your group." Neal grinned at the man across the room. Thanks to the information from the Intersect and a couple of files from Interpol, they had an idea of the identity of the man behind the Panthers.

Woodford stared at Neal. He didn't seem impressed. Sure, Neal had broken into his apartment but that wasn't impressive.

What was impressive was that Neal had managed to break into his safe and replace all of Woodford's fake ids with his own. Neal just had to convince him to look instead of kicking him out or shooting him; an easy task.

"You're in. For now."

Neal kept his easy-going smile as he wondered just what Woodford was planning.

* * *

Neal's job seemed to be helping Woodford uncover the identity of the mole in his organisation, right before their big job. It only took Neal a moment to figure it out.

"Keller," Neal commented with a snarl.

"Neal Caffrey," Keller seemed surprised to see him. Neal had to agree, that feeling was mutual.

"Isn't he supposed to be in prison?" Casey questioned over the comm. with a low growl. " _Russian_ prison."

"They say he's still there," Bryce muttered in a tone that said he didn't like this.

"Brilliant," Neal muttered.

"Don't be like that, Caffrey," Keller said, slinging an arm around him. "You'll love this." In a quiet whisper, he added, "so will your hang-on fleas, right boy?"

"What does that mean?" Chuck wondered out-loud, Keller's voice being transmitted clearly due to his close proximity to Neal.

Neal shrugged of Keller's arm.

"Didn't you hear?" he questioned. "I left."

Keller grinned a wolfish grin. "I know. My Fed wanted to speak with your old Fed. Burkie almost arrested me. You should have seen his face when my Fed ordered him to let me walk!"

Keller laughed and Neal decided right then and there that this whole group was going down.

* * *

Neal wasn't going to admit Bryce was right. This was possibly a bad idea.

"Neal! Just pull out!" Bryce was yelling in his ear.

"Excellent idea," Neal quipped as he pulled the earpiece out and shoved it in his pocket. He knew Bryce was just being overprotective as a member of Interpol had already turned up dead. Keller's handler had been killed, long before Neal had turned up on the scene.

Keller was the prime suspect and he was getting away through underground tunnels. Chuck, Sarah and Casey had cornered the Panthers, arresting them moments before they could unleash gunfire on their target.

The Panthers might have brought all their firepower for storming the airport and taking the cargo of money; their target for this heist, but they couldn't stand up to an army. Chuck had access to an army. Especially for cases like this; the money was in government hands.

But, Keller had escaped.

"Keller!"

Ruiz? Neal wondered what the FBI agent was doing here.

"Ah. Agent Ruiz. Nice to see you."

Neal turned a corner to see Keller pointing a gun at Ruiz. He ran out, tacking Keller to the ground.

The gun slid across the ground. Keller bucked and tried to escape.

The irony was that Neal couldn't escape while holding Keller down.

They were both arrested. At least Ruiz didn't say anything to him as he cuffed him.

* * *

Neal sat in the FBI interrogation room. He was no longer cuffed, of course, but he wasn't going to leave the room anytime soon. Jones stood guard, staring holes through him and doing his best impression of a statue. It didn't matter what Neal said, Jones didn't react.

The door opened a crack.

"Is it true?" Peter! Neal's heart did a shocked little jump at the sound of his friend's voice. Keller had mentioned the FBI agent but Neal hadn't thought about it because he thought Peter was in DC.

Neal stared as Peter walked into the room. His mouth dropped open.

Peter's eyes widened as he took in Neal. But he didn't let any other sign of surprise show on his face as he took a seat across from Neal.

"It seems Agent Ruiz owes you his life," Peter said, tone flat but with a slight angry growl to it.

Neal shrugged. He didn't care about that. "Why aren't you in DC?" The only reason he hadn't worried about being caught was because he thought his friend was in DC.

"I couldn't do it," Peter said, explaining his reasons for turning down the promotion.

Neal nodded, silent. They were very Peter reasons.

"Where have you been, Caffrey?"

Neal had to keep his silence. He didn't think Peter would believe him if he said that he went off and joined an independent spy group that was pretty much CIA.

And that one of them was his probably his very annoyed with him twin brother.

"Let me through! Out of the way, Junior Suit!" Mozzie pushed his way past Jones and stood gaping at Neal.

Neal gave him a shy wave and a, 'hi Moz'.

Mozzie's eyes narrowed.

"Don't 'hi' me, Neal. What happened? Where were you? Did the government take you for tests? Are you bugged?"

"I can't really answer any of those questions," Neal sighed. "I'm only going to be here for a few days. I've been staying with June."

Mozzie's jaw dropped and his eyes went round.

" _Staying with_ \- You never tried to contact me!" he rambled quickly. "I checked all our drop sites and all our codes and there wasn't a blip! I spent weeks looking for any sign of you!"

Neal's heart clenched in his chest. He had been on lockdown in Castle but that didn't mean he hadn't been able to get a message out. But, Bryce had suggested and he agreed that it would be best to keep his old friends away. Neal's new job was not safe.

Peter was staring at him, arms crossed over his chest. He didn't look happy. Neal wasn't surprised. He was a criminal on the run.

"Are you safe?" he asked.

Neal was baffled. "What?"

"Whatever you're doing, you're not messed up in anything dangerous, right?" Neal hesitated as he wondered about Peter's definition of 'dangerous' and realised it probably meant working for spies. That silence was a tip-off for Peter. "Dammit, Neal!"

"Is it the Panthers?" Mozzie asked with a wild grin and glint in his eyes. Then he looked around, spotting the disapproving looks Jones and Peter were giving him. "Uh, nevermind. You can tell me later."

"Don't worry about it, Moz," Neal sighed, "it's not the Panthers."

Peter's eyebrows furrowed. "Ruiz says that you've been working with them. Keller told him about it when he was about to shoot him."

Neal was not surprised. Keller was probably trying to plea bargain. It wouldn't do him any good.

"I... was undercover with the Panthers."

"What kind of job sends someone untrained undercover with a group like the Pink Panthers?" Peter said. He didn't sound angry but he also didn't sound like he believed Neal.

It was also rude. Neal had been trained. He had passed training with flying colours. Most of the skills he had already mastered without training and the rest he took quick courses on while locked down in Castle. He was still learning different ways to fight but his marksmanship was enough to get him a pass even if he was likely to lose any other kind of physical altercation.

"You might notice that I don't really require much training," Neal responded with an unspoken, 'you certainly never got me any' hanging in the air. "And I work for a group called Carmichael Industries."

"Carmichael Industries?" Peter repeated.

"Never heard of them," Jones added.

Neal turned to Jones as he informed them, "of course not, they usually operate overseas... or in California." It was a big state so he could leave them guessing on exactly where.

* * *

However, Mozzie's jaw had dropped.

"Carmichael Industries? You know Charles Carmichael?"

Neal was confused. "You mean Chuck?"

Mozzie's eyes sparkled and he was almost jumping with glee. "He's the guy who took on Verbanski Corp and won. She's taken down all her competition like-" Mozzie snapped his fingers, "-that."

"How do you know this?" Neal questioned in shock and slight horror. He knew of Verbanski, the gun lovin', Casey-loving tough woman who ran her own group. He knew they used to rival Carmichael Industries, almost running them into the ground without even trying. He didn't know that Mozzie knew about her. He had never mentioned any of this before now.

"Bo Derek," Mozzie responded with a shrug.

"Bo... Derek?" Peter and Neal questioned in unison. Even Jones looked a little baffled.

"She claims to have been with Michael Carmichael and put out a call for him a while back, trying to catch up."

Neal thought about which of the group was Michael Carmichael or if he missed someone. Although, if he had to guess, it would have been Morgan.

"Anyway, they're kind of dangerous."

"Who, Carmichael Industries?" Jones questioned.

Mozzie nodded. "Why do you think I keep track of private security companies? Cross the wrong one and you'll be in hotter water than the Man can manage."

Neal decided it would be better to take some control of this situation, before they all started thinking he was some kind of criminal or something.

"So, what was Ruiz doing with Keller?" he asked.

Peter was the one who explained. Keller's Interpol agent had contacted them once it became clear the FBI was meddling in his investigation. Peter's team had been more than two steps behind. It had been frustrating.

But not so frustrating that they would work with Keller.

It had been Diana's suggestion. Perhaps, Keller and his agent could work with another FBI agent.

Ruiz was one who didn't mind the arrangement. Anything to get the Pink Panthers behind bars. So the case was passed to Organised Crime. Then the Interpol agent turned up dead. Keller went rogue. It had been expected but there wasn't much they could do. Their hands had been tied by red tape.

"Until you turned up," Peter mused at Neal. "You caught Keller and the Panthers have been captured as well."

Mozzie had muttered a quiet 'good riddance' at Keller being caught although he seemed a little disappointed about the Panthers.

"I had help," Neal responded.

It turned out that 'help' had been trying to get through. Peter had left an order to not be bothered so the agents had been holding off a video call with a General Diane Beckman and a Charles Carmichael.

Diana appeared moments after Peter had left and said that he had ordered Neal to the conference room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Caffrey vs Carmichael Industries - Part 3**

When Neal entered the room, Peter was glaring at him. He knew that glare, it was the 'why didn't you tell me' glare.

"So, I take it you've met Chuck," he commented with a grin.

"Agent Larkin, do treat this situation with the seriousness it deserves." General Beckman was the only person who called him that. She was the only one who didn't think that having two 'Agent Larkin' was confusing.

"You're the one who insisted on putting us on this mission," Chuck reminded her calmly. Neal wasn't fooled. He was certain that there was someone in the background probably muttering those words under his breath in a much more annoyed tone.

Bryce never did like it when Neal was put in the forefront. It was a dangerous place to be, they both knew from experience.

"And I got arrested," Neal responded with a shrug. "What now?"

Beckman frowned at him, although she always looked like that when it came to work.

"My understanding is that the mission is complete. You will be returned to Chuck's team."

"Excuse me, but Neal was a member of my team," Peter said, interrupting when everyone paused. "My team has a right to know what happened to him."

"And what's going on now!" Mozzie said, standing up and pointing a finger at Beckman. "If you think I'm going to let the government use and abuse my friend, then you've got another thing coming!"

"I like this one," was heard over Chuck's screen.

Everyone in the room paused and Beckman pursed her lips.

"Agent Larkin, get off this channel."

"Which 'Agent Larkin'?" echoed through the room as someone from behind Chuck responded at the same time as Neal.

"He's not technically on the channel," Chuck commented. He pressed a few keys on his side and the screen turned black for a few moments. When it came back on, Chuck assured them that he was alone now.

"There are two?" Jones questioned, having been allowed access to this meeting as Peter's second in command.

"Why 'Agent Larkin'?" Peter asked.

"When he joined up, Agent Neal Larkin took the same last name as his brother who was working with us as well," General Beckman explained.

Chuck grinned and said to the General, "and I don't think you wanted to explain why 'Neal Caffrey' was popping up on our paperwork."

"Neal Caffrey working in a Buy More did have more potential to turn into an unpleasant scenario than the Larkin brothers working there," the General reminded him.

"Buy More?" Jones questioned in surprise.

"Does it matter?" Neal questioned. It was time to distract them from this line of conversation. He turned to Peter. "There's a number of reasons why I took my brother's last name. Mostly because he asked. Mostly so I could work without having the FBI turn up on my doorstep."

Jones raised an eyebrow. "You know we received an order to leave you alone unless you were suspected of a crime. Couldn't even look for you."

"And you were following that order?" Neal said with a grin. Because he suspected they hadn't. The way Peter looked away for a moment made him believe he was right. It was nice to think that Peter was still looking for him.

"It's more like we couldn't use FBI resources to find you or arrest you if we did," Peter pointed out.

Neal stared at him with an expression that said, 'really, Peter?' silently reminding them why they were in this situation. Peter placed his hands on his hips.

"Yes, you got arrested. That's what happens when you turn up during an investigation and knock a criminal to the ground, Neal. We have to take you in for questioning under suspicion. It's called doing our jobs."

Neal chuckled. "Yeah, I know that. Just messing with you."

Chuck laughed, reminding them that this was not a private situation. "Does this mean we get our agent back?"

"As long as you can prove that Neal was undercover," Peter informed him.

"I'll send the information over now," General Beckman informed them. Peter looked at Jones in a silent order and Jones left to get that information.

* * *

The rest of the conference was short. Peter received confirmation that Neal had been undercover and the General signed off as soon as he promised that Neal would be released.

Chuck hung up shortly after that. He told Neal that he would start on his way there the moment he finished one last sweep of the Pink Panther's hangouts in New York.

"Don't rush," Neal informed him. He turned back to Peter, Jones and Mozzie. "So, obviously I can't say much about my work-"

"I think you can probably talk about the Buy More," Peter reminded him.

Neal shrugged in response. "It's not a bad job."

"You've got to be joking," Mozzie stated. "It's retail, Neal! It's almost as bad as working with the Suit!"

"I thought it would be bad too," Neal commented, "but it's actually rather," he struggled to figure out a good word for it, "…okay. I think you would like it, Moz."

Mozzie shook his head. "No. Never. They've brainwashed you or something."

"I doubt that," Neal mused. "Since they've been trying to recruit me for years and I've always said no before now."

"And why did you change your mind?" Mozzie questioned rhetorically. "Brainwashing!"

"Uh, no," Neal responded bluntly. "If you're looking for a reason, the FBI's actions would be the main one." He ignored the guilty looks which passed between Peter and Jones. "Don't worry about it too much, Moz. If I didn't like the work, I would have left long before now."

"They've been trying to recruit you?" Jones questioned.

"They managed to recruit me in the end," Neal corrected with a nonchalant shrug. One thing working with the FBI taught him was getting used to being tossed around agencies. There had always been a threat of that hanging over his head; first with Rice and then Fowler and then Kramer, while it rarely happened, it was enough to desensitise him to it. It was just a thing government agencies did. A move from the FBI to the CIA was certainly easier in some respects than any of the threats he had during his time with the FBI. "I have a desirable set of skills. Besides, they thought that having my brother working with them would help me choose them."

"Did it?" Peter asked. He was interested in hearing about this brother. Neal had never mentioned any family beyond his mother, father and Ellen before. And just getting him to talk about those people was difficult.

"Nope. It had the opposite effect."

"I've never heard of this brother before," Mozzie accused in the same tone he used whenever he thought Neal had betrayed his trust.

"You might have without realising it," Neal pointed out. It would be difficult to separate accounts about him and about Bryce due to their similarities. Mozzie might have heard about Bryce but thought it was Neal. It had happened often enough in the past. "But, if you want, I'll bring him to Peter's and introduce him to you all."

"Your terms are agreeable."

"I'll let El know," Peter responded.

* * *

Bryce didn't seem like he wanted to meet Neal's friends.

"This job kept me from even speaking to them, let alone letting them know I was alive and okay. Let me have this one night, Bryce. Chuck's already okayed it."

Bryce whirled on Chuck, who was sitting at the table on his laptop. Chuck gave a thumbs up as confirmation before turning back to work. Across from him, Sarah was starting to look annoyed at how much work her husband was doing.

Bryce frowned but relented. Neal grinned, overjoyed.

Therefore, they ended up standing on the Burke's front porch. Neal knocked and he stood there. There was the padding of feet from inside the house. Moments later, the door opened and Satchmo came sniffing up against his feet.

"Hey, Satch," Neal greeted, giving the dog's ears a scratch.

"Of course he likes it here," Bryce commented to Peter, "you have a dog."

Peter stared at him for a moment before smiling. "Neal does seem to like Satchmo and vice versa."

Neal rolled his eyes and turned to greet El. He paused. El came out with a swollen stomach and a serene smile. Even Bryce turned in quiet shock.

"You're pregnant?" Neal questioned with his arms outstretched in an aborted hug.

El moved in to hug him, tsking a little at Neal's hesitance. "That's right. Lost the job in DC but this news made moving back to New York where my husband an easy choice."

Peter explained that they had been a long distance couple for a while as El had still taken a job in DC after Peter had refused his. But, she had returned after learning about her pregnancy.

"This is, wow," Neal said, still dumbstruck by El's presence. "Congratulations."

El turned to Bryce. "I'm Elizabeth Burke, Peter's wife."

"Nice to meet you," Bryce said pleasantly. He gave a smaller smile than Neal's con smile, softer but no less of a cover. "I'm Bryce Larkin, Neal's twin brother."

"I'm sure you gave the FBI a shock today. Two of you!" El cackled.

Peter groaned. "It's not funny. I'll be working on the paperwork for weeks!"

"Chuck's taking care of that now," Bryce pointed out calmly. Neal grinned and cheered at that. "I don't understand why paperwork is such a problem, Neal."

"It's so tedious and dull," Neal shot back. "I can't believe you don't mind it."

"Well, I'd rather be out in the field but the paperwork is still part of the job."

Bryce and Neal were facing each other and this looked like an argument they had many times.

El decided to step in. "Alright, boys, no talk of paperwork this evening," she decreed. They walked into the dinning room to see Mozzie setting the table. He gave Bryce the stink eye as El thanked him for cooking their meal.

"It's safe to eat right?" Bryce mused. Neal slapped across Bryce's arm as punishment for being rude. "What?" Bryce questioned in a baffled tone. "I'm just wondering if your little friend put anything in the food."

"Like truth serum?" Mozzie questioned with a shark-like grin. Bryce stared at him and Neal shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe these two were acting like this.

"I'm sure the food's fine," El informed Bryce.

Bryce couldn't help one last comment. He grumbled quietly under his breath as everyone sat down. "Better not be any truth serum in this, that stuff kills."

Bryce completely missed the wide-eyed, somewhere between intrigued and impressed, look that Mozzie gave him.

* * *

Peter surprised Neal. Neal had thought that Peter wouldn't be able to accept Neal moving to the CIA and Burbank. Bryce hadn't helped that trail of thought, often reminding Neal of the five year long disconnect between him and Chuck after their misunderstanding in college. Even if that had been entirely Bryce's fault in Neal's opinion, it fed Neal's imaginings of a Peter who would immediately request that Neal honour his contract with the FBI and come back and work with them.

However, that's not what happened. Peter was angered more by the lack of word from Neal. Peter had told Neal all the different scenarios he had imagined.

He had imagined variation after variation of Neal running and Neal being taken. Peter had sadly admitted that the versions where Neal was taken and used or abused outnumbered the ones where Neal had run and was living peacefully. Mozzie's imagination had been worse.

Peter shared some of Mozzie's imagined scenarios with them; Mozzie adding his commentary when necessary, and Bryce's eyebrows had gone right up. He couldn't even comment on them because some of them were plausible, as terrifying as the thought of Neal dying in an overseas secret prison was.

Neal apologised for probably giving Peter nightmares and to Mozzie for the work he had put in trying to locate him.

* * *

Peter was there the next morning when Neal and the rest of Carmichael Industries was due to fly out.

He gave Neal a tight hug.

"Maybe I'll visit you next," Peter commented. "I'm interested to see what kind of place you acquired for yourself."

Neal sighed at that. Leaving June's that morning had been tough. "It's not cappuccino in the clouds. Not even close. It's an apartment which I share with Bryce."

"No good coffee?"

"In Neal's words, I make a surprisingly good coffee for a government agent," Bryce interrupted.

"It's the only reason I put up with him," Neal whispered to Peter, not even trying to hide his words from Bryce's ears.

"That and the live-in technical advice."

Peter laughed. Neal could work a computer but anything beyond that was territory Neal didn't care about.

Neal snorted. "'Advice' like 'turn it off and on again'. Helpful."

"Hey! It works most of the time. It's like the basics in tech repair." Behind Bryce, Chuck was nodding in agreement.

"And if I'm coming to you, then I've already tried that," Neal countered. "After all, I heard the phrase enough times during high school."

Peter couldn't help smiling. It was the first time he had heard Neal really talk about his past without prompting. This team wasn't Peter's White Collar one but it seemed to be good for Neal.

"See you soon then," Peter said to Neal as it was almost time to part. Neal grinned at him.

"I expect to see you in Burbank next time," Neal said.

* * *

Peter turned up to the Burbank Buy More a few weeks later. He entered around closing time to find a scene he wouldn't even expect in Mozzie's wildest fantasies. Chuck was tied up behind the Nerd Herd desk. He later learnt that Bryce was locked out back in 'the cage', the place where the computers to be repaired were placed as well as the stock of computer parts.

Morgan was in a stand-off behind a pile of stacked boxes, armed with a TV remote and declaring that, as Manager, victory would be his. Beside him stood a large man who the others called 'Big Mike', looking like a bodyguard with his arms crossed over his chest and warnings that anyone who came near Morgan would be dealt with.

Facing Morgan was a group of people in green shirts, armed with cheeseballs. They were pegging them at the boxes and their manager. It was behaviour Peter was certain would get people fired in any other place.

"What is going on?"

"Well," a very familiar and smooth voice commented from beside him. Neal had slid over to him and was pointing a video camera at the action as he explained, "some of the staff members got mad at how Chuck seemed to be vanishing and how Morgan was vanishing with him. The Nerd Herd wanted their leader back so they tied him to the chair in order to get work done. As you can guess, Morgan took offence to this and tried to free his friend. The staff didn't take kindly to that and Lester rallied the green shirts to assist him." Later, Peter would learn that Bryce had been locked in the cage to keep him from helping Chuck as well. Bryce couldn't escape because Neal had messed with the lock. Nothing too dangerous and Neal claimed it was revenge for some kind of prank Bryce had pulled on him in the past.

"Welcome to the Buy More," Neal said with a wide grin. "Can I help you with anything?"

Peter just stared in bafflement. There was only one coherent trail of thought in his head.

"Mozzie would love this place."


End file.
